Showstopper! UK Tour - Review

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Mon 12 May 2025 - Mon 15 Dec 2025

Creating a brand new musical every night, this frenetic comedy show is truly one-of-a-kind. If you remember improv stand-up show Whose Line Is It Anyway? - then think that, but with jazz hands and inventive big show numbers.

I caught Showstopper! The Improvised Musical on tour at Birmingham Rep where it stays at the theatre for two nights only from May 12 to May 13. It's back in the Midlands at Malvern Theatres on May 23 and Lichfield Garrick on July 11 . The tour continues to towns including Salford, Brighton and Chester but it's also running in London's West End at Cambridge Theatre - see all dates below.

The crazy show has been going on for over a decade with much acclaim on stage along with a BBC Radio 4 series, winning a coveted Olivier Award along the way. While the premise is the same at each performance, what's created for each audience is totally unique at each show.



First off, we're introduced to a chatty compere, who answers a bright red phone(not too dissimilar to the one in Deal Or No Deal ). It turns out there's a producer on the other end of the line who needs a new musical created in the next two hours.

Taking suggestions shouted out from the audience, the basics are decided from style of music to the setting and even the musical's title. In the one I saw, the theme was Birmingham's bin strikes, delays on the trains to London and even topics like Ozzy Osbourne, Aston Villa and Blues came up. It made it all very relevant, hyper local and extremely funny.

That's when the magic starts as the rest of the talented Showstopper team of five actors and two musicians create a totally new show within minutes, led by the compere. There's political jokes akin to Have I Got News For You too with Trump's tariffs and Kier Starmer not escaping the firing line.



They come up with ingenious ways of adapting to the suggestions and musical styles. On the night I went, they were forced to create numbers in the style of Sondheim, Dream Girls, Hamilton and Phantom Of The Opera, to name a few. Incredibly they managed it, all within the storyline of piles of rubbish and could all belt out a tune.

Don't go expecting a glitzy, slick musical as that's not what this is. It's far funnier and clever improv with a twist. Ruth Bratt leading much of the action as a Brummie poet laureate turned dictator stole the show for both her comedy and singing. The rest of the team including Andrew Pugsley, Jonathan Ainscough, Philip Pellow and Lauren Shearing all impressed too.

One tip before you go, the audience gets to make lots of suggestions, so it's worth having a little think before you go about those musicals you most love or some funny topics to shout out. You may even be the lucky one to win a prize.

It's no wonder Showstopper! has proved such a long-running success as it's a hilarious, rollicking night of fun. Fans of musical theatre will especially love it but the clever comedy gives it far wider appeal. This joyous show makes it hard for anyone in the audience to keep a straight face.

RATING: 4 out of 5 stars


Showstopper! On Tour - UK Dates
See the Showstopper! The Improvised Musical on tour website here for ticket information and dates.

May 12 - 13
Birmingham Rep, Birmingham

May 15
Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough

May 17
South Holland Centre, Spalding

May 19
Cambridge Theatre, London

May 23
Malvern Theatres, Malvern

May 30
Loughborough Town Hall, Loughborough

May 31
(The Kids Show) at Neville Holt Festival, Market Harborough

June 6 - 7
Crucible, Sheffield

June 12
New Victoria Theatre, Woking

June 14
Corn Exchange, Brighton

June 20 - 21
The Lowry, Salford Quays, Salford, Manchester

June 23
Cambridge Theatre, London

June 30
The Theatre, Milton Keynes

July 3
Storyhouse, Chester

July 9
Salisbury Playhouse, Salisbury

July 10
Nottingham Playhouse, Nottingham

July 11
Lichfield Garrick, Lichfield

July 21
Cambridge Theatre, London, London

July 30
At the Edinburgh Fringe, Pleasance Grand, Edinburgh

September 29
Cambridge Theatre, London, London

October 20
Cambridge Theatre, London, London

November 17
Cambridge Theatre, London, London

December 15
Cambridge Theatre, London, London


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